Man charred in Ambala building fire

Ambala, May 26

A labourer was burnt alive as a fire broke out on the first floor of a three storey building in Ambala Cantonment today. The deceased has been identified as Sanju (40) of Ambala City.

Sources said some commercial activities were going on at the first floor and the remaining floors were being used for residential purposes.

When smoke was noticed around 10 am, three fire tenders were pressed into service. The building belongs to Ashwini Kumar. His family escaped unhurt.

RS Dahiya, fire officer, said, “There was a cardboard on the first floor. A burnt gas cylinder has been recovered. They had not obtained any NoC from the department and there were no fire extinguishers.”

Ajit Singh, Ambala Cantonment SHO, said, “Boxes of sweets used to be prepared on that floor and other floors were being used for residential purpose. We are in touch with the officials of the Municipal Corporation to check if they had any permission to use the site for commercial use or not.”

Abhishek Jorwal, SP, visited the spot and said, “The forensic team has been called to ascertain the exact cause of the incident. I have sought details whether they had the permission to run commercial activity or not.”

Gagandeep Singh, Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, said, “I have sought a report from the fire department about this incident. It will be checked whether they had necessary permissions or not.”